Happy New Year's to all my blog buddies

I went this week to visit my Uncle Johnny and Aunt Perry Nell in Ellijay, Georgia. I went to teach Aunt Perry Nell to knit. She did very well, which shows you that you are never too old to learn new things (don't tell anybody, but she is 75 years young). We had a very good visit. This was the view Thursday morning from their front porch. The frost was so heavy that it looked like snow.

Hope everybody has a very good 2012!!

Scenery from the Smokies

Jimmy and I have very limited time together anymore. I arrived home late Saturday evening from the festival, and Sunday we had a chance to spend the day together without other family members. Jimmy and I just got in the car and drove, when we first met we did this every weekend. We talked about some of the times we got lost and of things we just came across by being lost. We did leave the house with an idea in mind of where were going this time, but still went down some memory lanes together along the way.This is the nicest scarecrow I have ever seen. Look at the way the blue has faded in the front. When printed that blue is vibrant.

There is a loop road (for some reason I think 8 miles, but that might not even be close) of Arts and Crafts that turns off the highway between Gatlinburg and Cosby. There are shops all along the road, some shops are close to each other, so some of time when you park you get to go through 5 to 10 shops before getting back in your vehicle. Some of the time, just one shop before you are driving again. I am including this information because I had a couple of questions since my earlier post this week.

All of the photographs in this post are taken at one stop along the road. These were all in the yard of an old house. The old house was the home of the Paul Murray Gallery , but when we first pulled up I had to grab my camera. It was the neatest little place. A man came out while we were in the yard and as he was leaving told us the artist was great. Seemed kind of odd, most people don't give out that kind of praise. Check out the link, this artist is awesome.

By the way, the photograph above and below are the same photograph,
the one below has been cropped. I like both.

This is just the barn door to a barn in the front/side yard.

If you follow my Photography By Leedra blog , the peony bloom was posted there earlier this week, just in case you are thinking you have already seen this photograph.

All but the barn door have been made into greeting cards already (including both the cropped and the non cropped version of the birdhouse),
with some of them already selling.

Snow in East Tennessee

Some of what we saw around East Tennessee this morning.Our house as we returned from driving around.

Some color in the snow.

My daylilies still trying to bloom. Several buds left, they probably won't bloom now.

Encore azalea, this is a repeat bloomer.

And my crazy iris.

There have been alot of predictions about our winter having more snow this year. If this morning is any sign I may get some good snow photos this year.

Barn at Tipton Place in Cades Cove

I always have to stop at this barn when I am in Cades Cove. When I was 18 years old and visiting Cades Cove for the first time I stepped up on a ladder in this barn. When I stepped down I stepped on a nail. Got a tetanus booster shot because of it. Several years later I also worked with a decendant of this family. I can never go to Cades Cove without thinking fondly of C.O. Tipton, we called him Tip. He has been retired for many years now, boy, the stories he could tell. He was a real story teller, he captured everybody's attention when he started with one of his great stories. Last time I heard, his health was failing, and I keep meaning to go see him. I called him on his birthday a couple of years ago, and he was shocked I knew it was his birthday.

I also had a real hard time waiting here for a shot without people, but it was worth it for me.

Cades Cove in Smoky Mountains

These 2 photographs make me think of the Wild, Wild West for some reason. It doesn't really look like the Smokies to me. But I do like the look.

This barn I keep trying to get right. The light is always so harsh by the time I get to this location in Cades Cove. I did you a filter, and it looks a little better, just wish could manage to get to this point in the cove earlier in the day.

Cable Mill Area of Cades Cove

Random photographs taken in the Cable Mill Area of Cades Cove in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

This is the actual mill where they still ground the corn to make meal. You can purchase the meal right there. It is very hard to get a photograph without people in it, especially this time of year. That goes for all of these photos, I just had to wait at ready and snapped the instant it was clear of people.

This last photo is a close up (me? a close up?) of the holes in one of the out buildings in the Cable Mill area. It is the building where I took the photographs of the Copperheads earlier in the year. Click here and here for the 2 post of the Copperheads.

Random structures in Cades Cove

The top photograph is the Dan Lawson Place from a distance. I don't think I have ever looked back at this site before. Not sure why I did now, maybe because I was taking some photos in the rearview mirror. I liked what I saw, so I probably will look back at this homeplace more often.

The 2nd and 3rd photos are structures at the Tipton Place area. I have another post of this area later this week.

The last photograph was taken while standing next to the Dan Lawson cabin. Just liked the view.

Caldwell Place in Cataloochee Cove - GSMNP

Remember this house was built in 1903.
Look at this woodwork.

They not only had the arch, but look at the design going 3 different directions on the same wall.

And the staircase. This house was awesome. Would love to live in today, just not down that 10 miles of mountain side to get to it.

The view from the front porch, nice stream between the house and the barn.

Notice the cross on the barn.

A blogger buddy, Darla, suggested I update this post and tell this story. See the comments on the Woody Place post. This house brought back memories for me. When I was about 10 years old the house down the road past my Granny and Papa's house (in Walton County, Georgia)was very similiar to this house. One Saturday evening Sheriff Doc Sorrells (relative of mine) was called to the house because the man of the house was intoxicated and causing problems. When the sheriff knocked on the front door the man shot him from the back of the house. The man was in the back right room. The shot went through 6 to 8 walls and killed the sheriff standing at the front door. When nobody lived in the house anymore we went in the house to investigate it. CSI would have used beams to show the bullets path. We were not that sophisticated, we stuck our fingers in the holes in all the walls. The holes were at angles in the walls, straight to the front door.

After I was grown I visited the Police Memorial in Washington, DC and found his name on the wall and made a rub of his name. It was a very emotional visit, due to knowing several police officers listed on the wall.

Palmer House at Cataloochee Cove - GSMNP

The Palmer House is the first home place you come to in Cataloochee Cove. The white portion was added on the house in 1924. Notice the wallpaper in the front left room.
Then newspaper as wallpaper upstairs. We looked for a date, but couldn't find a year.

These steps are between the 2 log cabins that were joined in by one roof. The porch between them goes all the way through the house.

This is the back of the house.

Not sure what this log structure is, unless it is one of the bunk houses they built for the tourist in the early 1920's. Not much larger than a smokehouse, but it does not have a floor, and most smokehouses have a floor.

The white structure is the spring house. Nice lattice door.

The view of the house and springhouse from the barn.
The barn from the house.

That is my husband on the upper level.

I have never seen a ramp like this going to the upper level of a barn. Makes it a lot easier than lifting, or going up ladders.